Image caption
Greeks continue to protest against the latest round of austerity measures

European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials are heading for Athens to review Greece's progress in cutting its debt levels.

They hold the key to releasing further bailout money the country badly needs.

On Tuesday, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou hailed his country's "superhuman" efforts to cut its budget.

The review comes amid reports of a split among eurozone members about further support for Greece.

Citing "senior European officials", the Financial Times said a number of the bloc's 17 members want private investors to take a bigger hit in the proposed restructuring of Greece's debts.

Eurozone members are in the process of ratifying proposals put forward in July, one of which would see private lenders writing off about 20% of their loans to Greece.

The proposals also included expanding the powers of the eurozone bailout fund.

Analysis

By Mark LowenBBC News, Athens

It has become the focal point of the anti-austerity demonstrations: Syntagma Square in the heart of Athens, in front of parliament.

A few hundred protesters gathered there again as the property tax was debated inside. They chanted "resist", calling politicians "thieves".

As news filtered out that the vote was passed, the mood turned. Protesters scuffled with riot police, who used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse them.

For an hour the trouble continued, police charging the crowds across the square and into the narrow streets beyond. Some projectiles were thrown, battered away by the police. As the night wore on, calm returned.

Anger is growing here at the austerity drive, with the property tax one of the most unpopular measures to date. And while the government has a tough time convincing its international creditors to stick with it, facing down an increasing wave of protests will be an immense challenge too.

Germany will vote on the plan on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the head of the European Commission has stressed that Greece will not leave the eurozone. There has been growing speculation that the country will be forced to default on its debts, with some observers suggesting this would inevitably lead to it exiting the bloc.

However, in his annual State of the Union address in Strasbourg, Jose Manuel Barroso said: "Greece is, and Greece will remain, a member of the euro area."

He did, however, warn that the EU was facing its "greatest challenge".

There has been widespread criticism that leaders are acting too slowly in pushing through measures to address the wider debt crisis.

Jean-Claude Trichet, the head of the ECB, has called on governments to speed up their policy response.

He told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Serra that leaders needed "to demonstrate their sense of direction", and do so quickly.

Deficit cut

Commission, ECB and IMF officials will decide whether to release about 8bn euros ($11bn; £7bn) from a 110bn bailout package agreed last summer.

Discussions with Greek officials are expected to begin on Thursday.

A key obstacle to the payment was removed on Tuesday when the Greek parliament passed a controversial new property tax bill, first announced earlier this month, that aims to boost revenues.

The tax is one of a number of austerity measures Athens is introducing, measures that saw Greece's budget deficit fall by more than 5 percentage points in 2010, Mr Papandreou said in a speech to German business leaders on Tuesday.

Speaking in Berlin, he said Greece would fulfil its obligations and hoped to be without a primary deficit from 2012.

He added that it was very important his country gets indications of support from "our European partners".

Renewed hope

There has been renewed optimism this week that eurozone leaders may finally be ready to take decisive action to tackle the debt crisis.

G20 leaders met over the weekend to discuss the best way forward, but EU officials stressed that no grand plan of action had been agreed.